Hi everyone (I hope I'm posting in the right thread),

I'm considering purchasing a 1990 Jag XJ6 Sov, and the seller has told me that while it runs great otherwise (and "only" has 79 000 miles on it), it needs a new battery and blower motor for the AC/Heating system.

I live in Canada, and I guess I'm just wondering how difficult/costly it will be to replace/repair those two items. Also, with the battery in particular, I'm curious if there are any special restrictions in terms of voltage I should keep in mind while getting a new one.

I am going to look at the vehicle myself today, but I wanted to see if anyone here had anything to say about this.

Thanks for your time and your help
Josh

 

Welcome Josh, you are in the correct place for a tech question. Looks like nice low mileage to start with.

Well, it is a 12 volt batt.

The blower can be a DIY change, if you are that way inclined, but it is a bit of a pain.

First off would be to check that it really does need replacing, and is not something more simple to sort out.

When you do put a New Battery on the car, don't be surprised if it seems to have a mind of its own, with beeps and chirps etc.

You should get it running and drive it before parting with your hard earned.

 

Josh,

I too am new to Jaguars having purchased a 1990 XJ Sovereign a few weeks ago. Mine is slightly cosmetically challenged and has almost 145k miles on it, but I love my car. If you are mechanically inclined, I would go for it. But that's just me.

Good luck!

 

79,000 miles in 20 years is not a great amount, but do remember this is a 20 year old car, so whilst it might need a heater blower motor, there might be few other things needing attention, and you cannot determine what these might be with no battery, as you cannot even start the car.

Only if the price is right would I buy a non-runner. Remember a 1990 comes before Ford started putting right a lot of the faults and bad design features of the XJ40 model.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone

There's some great info and opinions in those posts that will help me with my decision.

I was able to drive the car myself last night, and, for the more mechanically inclined, it would be an amazing car at an incredible price - but I'm not sure if it's the one for me, as there are a couple of issues with it. ...Plus some things I didn't even count on, such as no seatbelts and no airbags, on top of the fact that it needed the new parts. Plus there was an unusual smell in the cabin.

I'm still considering the Jag, but I'm going to keep looking at some other vehicles first.

Thanks again for all your help
Josh

 

Keep looking, there are lots of reasonably priced cars in good condition out there.

Dead cat smell in the cabin is not a good start. LOL

 

No seatbelts and no airbags ? So just where have they gone ? Isn't there an annual test for roadworthiness in the US ?

Unusual smell could be the aircon; they can get very smelly if not attended to at least annually. You can buy a bug killer in most autoparts stores. I regularly did my Rover 75. Now I suppose I'll have to do my XJ6, but it's fresh smelling so far. Other thing is, of course, heavy smoking in the car; its almost impossible to rid the car of the smell unless all the fabric like headlining is stripped out and replaced.